Johnson goes the distance to lead Fish past Bravos
Baseball Betting Lines
08/27/2008 -
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson's brilliant four-hitter marked the
first complete game of his career and Dan Uggla was the offensive catalyst, as
the Florida Marlins defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4-1, and evened their three-
game series at Turner Field.
Johnson (4-0) took a no-hitter into the fifth and allowed one run to go along
with the four hits and eight strikeouts for the Marlins, who rebounded after
blowing a ninth-inning lead in Tuesday's 10-9 series-opening loss. Uggla
homered and scored three runs while Hanley Ramirez knocked in two runs in the
win. Florida, which improved to 68-65, has not been able to string together
consecutive wins since the end of July.
The Mets defeated the Phillies on Wednesday, so the Marlins remained 5 1/2
games out of first place in the NL East.
"These are the games we have to win," said Uggla. "It doesn't matter what the
Phillies and Mets do. We're just concentrating on just getting wins."
Kelly Johnson scored the lone run for the Braves, who have lost eight of their
last 10 games.
Mike Hampton (2-2) produced a solid outing but suffered the loss after he
surrendered three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks over
eight innings of work.
The Marlins opened the scoring in the top of the third inning. Uggla led off
with a double and scored when Wes Helms followed with a single.
A pair of Florida runs in the fifth gave the visitors a three-run edge as
Ramirez clubbed a two-run single that scored Uggla and Helms.
Johnson yielded his first hit of the game with one out in the fifth. He
induced a groundout by lead off batter Brian McCann, but Johnson then hit a
triple. When Martin Prado grounded out, Johnson crossed the plate to bring
Atlanta within 3-1.
Johnson continued his stellar outing with a scoreless sixth, which was ended
by a 6-4-3 double play, and a 1-2-3 seventh.
"My location was good and I kept the pitches down in the zone," Johnson said.
"In my head, I was thinking 'just finish strong' and I ended up throwing a
good game."
Atlanta threatened in the eighth. A throwing error by Ramirez allowed lead off
batter Prado to reach first base safely and Jeff Francoeur singled to right
field. Brandon Jones followed with a bunt to put runners on second and third
with one out. Johnson settled down and fanned Greg Norton and Gregor Blanco in
succession and the Marlins went into the ninth still holding their lead.
The scoring was capped by Uggla's bomb in the top of the ninth. He turned on a
Blaine Boyer offering and crushed it into the seats in deep left field. The
blast was estimated to have travelled at least 430 feet.
"I got lucky -- he gave me one I could put a good swing on and it felt good,"
said Uggla.
In the ninth, Johnson yielded a one-out single off the bat of Chipper Jones
and issued a two-out walk to Johnson, but Prado grounded out to end the game.
Game Notes
Johnson improved to 3-1 in seven career starts against Atlanta. He threw 113
pitches, 80 for strikes...Hampton's 2008 earned run average is 5.85...Uggla
has 28 homers this season...Francoeur had two of the Braves' four hits...The
contest was completed in a swift 2 hours, 16 minutes...Attendance was 19,755.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
 Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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